David and Company Blog

Longmont, Colorado – I learned something recently about the .docx file format that may be of help to you, though I have to admit, I haven’t totally figured out all the ways this may be of use. So for what it’s worth, here goes.

I work on a Mac, but as many of you will understand, most of my clients use a PC running some form of Windows software. With the latest version of Office, the extension on Word documents has changed from .doc to .docx. To my chagrin, my older version of Word was not able to open these files, so I looked for a solution. One that I tried was a translator that would turn the .docx file into an HTML file, which I could then copy and paste as needed. Unfortunately, formatting was not always correct and so errors were introduced. Of course, another solution is to go back to your client and ask them to save the file back to the older .doc file format, which they were generally glad to do. But knowing this was going to continue to be a problem, I needed another solution. Ultimately, the solution was going to be to upgrade my version of Word, and thereby, solve the problem. I wasn’t ready at that point to do so, but eventually did and now the problem is solved. So what did I learn that I haven’t yet shared?

In my search for a solution, I also came across what I like to call a “gee whiz”, or something that kind of takes you by surprise. I read one day, that .docx is nothing more than a .zip file and that, if you wanted to open it to see what’s inside, all you had to do was change the extension from .docx to .zip and then unzip the file. Naturally, I had to try it and it worked. The most useful outcome of this so far, is that you get access to the original embedded graphics files. The rest of the files, of which there may be many, are xml files and I’ve yet to determine if they’re useful or not. Clearly they are useful in constructing the Word file and since I’ve now updated my Word application, I may never go into this farther, but I thought you or someone may find this of interest, so I posted it.

“Times are tough and money’s tight. And since business is slow and “Sally” in the front office has time on her hands, we thought we’d just get the software, so that she can make those changes, or set up that brochure, or design our new logo and while she’s at it, set up our new stationery too. I mean, she is pretty artistic, right?”

Sound familiar? Well, considering the pressures to save money and keep people busy if possible, I guess we can’t really blame them for trying to save some money. Of course we designers face those same pressures and are struggling to keep ourselves busy too, but there’s more to the story, like maybe they’re not going to save as much as they thought. So the next time one of your clients asks about the software you used to create their brochure, maybe, in addition to answering their question, you also give them the whole story. Something like this:

Yes, Ms. Client, I just used InDesign to layout your brochure, but I also used Illustrator to create those interesting little graphics and I used Photoshop to modify your photos and of course, those fonts that you like so much had to be purchased too. You can also tell her about the amount of time you’ve spent learning how to use these applications, how many years you’ve spent in school learning theory, art history, and effective writing skills. If they really want to work on those files you created for them, they should really get the whole Creative Suite and of course, they’ll need to keep that software up-to-date down the road, so there’s another expense. Probably should get “Sally” a little training too, or at least a month or two subscription to Lynda.com. You could also mention that even though the color palettes are built into the applications, there are some issues that may come up related to colors. Like using colors that work well together, knowing the difference between spot and process colors and how that can make a difference in what the final printed piece looks like.  Perhaps you should also explain why the actual printed brochure may not look anything like the “proof” they printed out on their inkjet printer – so they’re not surprised. Has she heard of the Pantone Color Matching system?

I know. It’s hard to explain all this without sounding like you’re whining. Even if you have the best of intentions and are sincerely just trying to be helpful, it won’t sound that way. And if you do give it a try and things don’t work out so well – they probably won’t come back to you for help, for fear you’ll tell them, “I told you so”. So what’s a person to do? I guess I’m still trying to work that one out. In the meantime I’ll continue doing what I’ve done before and say, “Yep, just InDesign.”